Chorizo Sliders with Shredded Brussel Sprouts

I have gotten in the habit of ending up at Sanctuaria late nights on the weekend. They have excellent and inventive cocktails and they also serve food late (which is something that St. Louis is sorely lacking). One of the best things on the Sanctuaria menu is the Fritas, which are chorizo sliders. They will make you weep, even if you haven’t had a couple fancy cocktails. While I would not be so bold as to try to replicate Sanctuaria’s fritas, I thought I would attempt something similar at home.

Making sliders at home has been on my agenda for a while. I have plans to recreate some fast food sliders in the home environment, and I even intend to make the rolls that go along with them for the full experience. Dr. Fiance consistently makes fun of my love for White Castle – and while I realize that her mocking me is justified, it’s an infrequent indulgence for me, so I give myself some slack. Traditional sliders are steamed on a griddle, and are generally very thin. That isn’t what I was going for with these sliders.

I travel quite a bit for work, and often find myself at a hotel bar after a shoot. For some reason I never eat much when I’m shooting but by the end of the day when I should be famished I’m usually too full of adrenaline from the shoot to want a big meal. One thing that most hotel bars do well is sliders, so that tends to be my go-to comfort food on the road. Rather than the traditional slider which is more like a White Castle burger, hotel sliders tend to just be small hamburgers, usually slightly more gentrified than a regular burger; fancy beef or pork, or some exotic cheese or some sort of wasabi paste on top. The W Hotel bars have a nice little trio of Kobe sliders which I get once in a while.

For my chorizo sliders at home I went with the fancy bar slider instead of the traditional. Fear not, my White Castle burgers will happen at some point. I took the simple approach, and the results were pretty good. A pound of chorizo mixed with a pound of organic ground beef, mixed together with some paprika. The Sanctuaria fritas come with delicate little fried potato strings, which are delicious. However, I went with a healthier version and topped my sliders with some shredded brussel sprouts sauteed with a little garlic and oil. Simple and delicious. For rolls I used store bought Hawaiian rolls, which were honestly the weakest part of the whole dish. Then again, all store-bought bread pales next to fresh home made bread.

Chorizo Sliders with Shredded Brussel Sprouts

This recipe is simple and quick to make. The chorizo adds a spicy undertone to the ordinary pub slider.

Combine the chorizo and beef or pork together in a large bowl and mix in half of the paprika. Form the meat mixture into small patties (mine were about 3 inches wide by 1 inch). Fry or grill the patties until they are browned on both sides and just cooked through. You can finish them in the oven if you’d like. I use a cast iron pan which has room for about six sliders at a time.

Right before serving, heat a separate pan over medium heat, then add a couple tablespoons of olive oil. When the oil is hot add the garlic and saute for a minute or two, being careful not to burn it. Add in the brussel sprouts and saute for a couple of minutes until just starting to soften. I like my brussel sprouts crunchy. Season with salt and pepper and the rest of the paprika. Serve the sliders on the rolls topped with brussel sprouts.

11 Responses

When I was a kid I remember watching a segment on some morning show about how to recreate your favorite chain restaurant dishes at home. The only reason I remember this so distinctly was because of their version of the white castle burger. One of the ingredients was a jar of beef baby food.

Oops, the rest of the paprika goes on the brussel sprouts. I updated the recipe. And yes, I’m betting if you used the same recipe that we got at the Companion event for the brussel sprouts that would take these up to 11.